Polyolefin elastomers are used as materials having reinforcing properties, such as impact strength and flexural strength, of interior/exterior materials of automobiles. Additionally, polyolefin elastomers are used in various industries, such as the high-tech textiles industry and the sports industry, due to their superior elasticity, toughness, etc.
For example, polyolefin elastomers are polymerized according to a solution polymerization method wherein an olefin monomer is dissolved in a solvent and then polymerization is carried out using a catalyst, and a solvent is collected from a resultant polymerized solution, after which it is subjected to a drying process and packaged. When a polyolefin elastomer is prepared according to such a solution polymerization method, a large amount of solvent is used with respect to the amount of an added olefin monomer, and thus a large amount of energy is consumed in a process of collecting the solvent and an unreacted monomer after polymerization. Conventionally, a solvent and an unreacted monomer were collected from a polymerized solution including the solvent and the unreacted monomer after solution polymerization by means of a distillation device composed of two sequentially connected distillation columns. However, in this process, a large amount of energy is disadvantageously consumed.
Therefore, there is a need for a process of collecting a solvent and an unreacted monomer to reduce distillation device installation costs and isolate a high-purity compound.